


Swirling Beneath Your Skin

by Soapbubblesoul



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Kissfanxing, M/M, Magic, Tattoo AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-04
Updated: 2016-04-04
Packaged: 2018-05-31 06:28:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6459508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soapbubblesoul/pseuds/Soapbubblesoul
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It should have been simple. Go to a tattoo parlour, get his rune done, finish his mother’s birthday present, go on with his daily routine. Well, Yifan’s plans never quite work out the way he plans them to, but Yixing might prove to be one of the more pleasant diversions.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Swirling Beneath Your Skin

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for kissfanxing. I really, really loved the prompt, perhaps because I had been watching too much America's Worst Tattoos back then. I had a lot of fun writing in this universe actually, hope you all like it as well :)

The entrance area of the tattoo parlour is dimly lit by candles and lanterns that are covered with sheets of fabric, tinting their light a dark orange. The smell of incense hangs in the air, and soft traditional music is playing from well-concealed speakers.

Yifan immediately feels as if he has stepped into an entirely different world, the inside of the store posing a stark contrast to the cold, bustling street outside which he came from. It is winter, the new year only having started, and the wind blows unforgivingly, so Yifan is more than grateful for the warm coziness of the tattoo parlour.

“Excuse me?” He calls out, stepping towards the counter. Behind it a young man is sitting, probably a few years younger than Yifan himself, seemingly indulged in reading a paperback. When he notices the shadow towering in front of him, he startles momentarily, before scrambling to sit up straight.

“Welcome to Exotic Runes. Do you have an appointment?” He asks, fast enough to stumble slightly over the words but Yifan still catches the basic idea.

“Ehm, yes, I do have an appointment. One moment...” He rummages through the pocket of his jacket, in search of the scrap of paper onto which he had scribbled the time and the name of the person he had made an appointment with over the phone.

“Ah, there we go.” The tall male softly exclaims when his fingers touch the object he is looking for. “At 1:30, with… Lay?” He lets the name trail off as a question, because he’s still not entirely sure if he understood it correctly over the phone.

But the receptionist simply nods in recognition, and runs his finger across the pages of a table calendar that’s lying open on the desk. “There we have it, Wu Yifan?”

Yifan nods, and the other male scribbles a little note behind his name, before turning around to shout through the curtain covered doorway leading further into the parlour. “XingXing, your 1:30 is here.”

He is answered by something that sounds like a muffled shout of acknowledgement, and turns back to face Yifan with a bright smile. “He’ll be around in a second, please take a seat.”

Yifan thanks the male, inclining his head slightly.

The waiting area is directly opposite of the doorway, three sofas placed so that they form three of the four lines of a square, a table covered in magazines standing in the area they encase.

Yifan considers leafing through one of them, but he doesn’t expect to wait long, so he decides against it. Instead he uses the time to take in his surroundings. The whole room is covered in paintings hung in golden frames, gleaming dimly in the low light. He can’t really tell what they depict, most of them looking rather abstract, but somehow they fit the whole atmosphere of the room quite well.

He’s about to get up to study one painting a bit closer—a plethora of colourful lines winding around what looks like the trunk of a tree, with strokes of red running through the brown of its bark—when the curtain leading to the working area of the tattooists is pushed to the side.

A man steps through, about a head smaller than Yifan. He is dressed in a sleeveless, white shirt that hangs low enough to reveal the black lines of ink on his collarbones, and a slightly washed out, well-worn looking jeans, already coming slightly apart at the seams.

He uses the hand that’s not holding the curtain out of the way to ruffle through his hair. Yifan is sure that in the sunlight the other’s hair would look bronze, but in the diffuse light of the room it looks rather reddish.

Dark eyes quickly dart to the receptionist as the smaller male acknowledges him with a smile and a quick nod of his head, as if it were some sort of secret code between them, before he scans the room and settles his gaze on Yifan.

The smile he already wore stretches even further, until it crinkles his eyes slightly at the corners, a small indentation appearing on his right cheek. For a moment Yifan feels short of breath, but thankfully he is able to get himself back under control in time to shake the proffered hand the smaller stretches out towards him by means of greeting. “Hi, I’m Yixing. You’re Yifan, right?”

Yifan nods in answer, before halting. “Yixing? I’m sorry, I think I have an appointment with Lay.”

He is feeling a bit dejected that the other isn’t going to be his tattooist, but instead of agreeing the smaller male just chuckles lightly.

“You weren’t too curious who would be permanently marking your skin, now were you. Didn’t even take the time to read my profile on our website?” The tattooist asks, the hint of a teasing smirk on his lips.

Yifan has half the mind to be offended, but the tone the other is using only sounds amused, not accusing, so the taller decides to chuckle lightly himself, rubbing the back of his neck in slight embarrassment at admitting how blue-eyed he’s approaching this tattoo. “Yeah, well, I was told you’re the best, so I kinda just relied on that?”

“Ohhhh, then you must have had some good sources.” The red-haired male’s eye twinkle with mirth as he leans closer, shielding his mouth as if he’s about to tell Yifan a secret. “Because I am _indeed_ the best.”

With a laugh Yixing draws back, patting Yifan’s arm in jest when the taller seems to be lost for words for a moment. Yifan just dearly prays that the orange lighting is low enough to conceal the hint of a blush forming on his cheeks, as he tries to mirror Yixing’s laugh in the hope of looking a bit less awkward. The success is debatable, but the smaller keeps grinning at him in a way that has Yifan’s heart fluttering, so he reasons the situation could have gone a lot worse as well.

“That’s… reassuring. But why the name Lay then?” Yifan can’t help asking, partly in an attempt to distract himself from the sparkling of the smaller’s eyes.

“Ah, you know, we’ve got a lot of foreign customers here, who decide to quickly get a rune or two done while staying in Beijing. And since they have such troubles pronouncing ‘Yixing’, I thought it’s the easiest to just get an alias.” The red-haired male explains, before grinning up at Yifan. “But you don’t seem foreign, so just call me Yixing.”

“I see. Then please call me Yifan.” He lamely replies. It’s not as if the other hasn’t already addressed him with “Yifan”, but the taller still feels the need to reiterate it.

“Got it. Then come on, Yifan, let’s get to my working area so that we can properly discuss what you want to get under your skin.” The tattooist chuckles slightly, motioning for Yifan to follow him through the doorway.

Behind the curtain there is another room, this one decidedly bigger than the entrance area, but separated into smaller parts by small shelves, ranging from waist to shoulder high. Just like the other room this one is draped in hues of red and orange, from the lighting to the decorations. Only the working spaces of the tattooists stand out with their own respective creative chaos.

Mustering the colourful assembly of trinkets lining the desks, drawings pasted to the boards of the shelves, and photographs hanging on the wall, Yifan guesses that every artist is free to design their own small area.

Yixing leads him through the room, to a space that’s a bit wider, containing a big table surrounded by a couple of chairs. Taking a seat himself, the smaller urges Yifan to follow suit.

“Okay, so what do you need my help with, Yifan?” Yixing asks, grabbing a pen and one of the empty pieces of paper lying around in one corner of the table, before watching Yifan with expectant eyes, finger’s curled loosely around the pen, poised as if he’s ready to start scribbling right away.

Yifan can’t help feeling as if he’s come to some sort of therapeutic session with how intently the tattooist is mustering him, and he forces himself to inhale deeply to sort his thoughts. The smaller is right, there is something Yifan wants help with, otherwise he wouldn’t have come to get a rune done after all.

“I need a rune for drawing.” He says, unable to think of a way to beat around the bush.

Yixing’s eyebrows arch up slightly higher in surprise, as if Yifan’s request is rather uncommon. “Drawing.” He repeats, tip of his pen barely hovering over the paper.

“Yes.” The taller confirms, fidgeting his fingers slightly in his lap under the weight of Yixing’s gaze. He’s just grateful the tabletop hides the nervous gesture from the tattooist.

“Okay, I think I’ll need a bit more info to work with.” Yixing cautiously beckons Yifan to keep talking, the hint of a lopsided smile on his face. Probably he’s trying to be encouraging.

So Yifan sighs silently, plastering a small smile onto his face in hopes of looking a bit charming at least, despite the lameness of his request. “Well, it’ll be my mother’s 50th birthday in about a month, and I wanted to get her something personal. And I’ve loved drawing all my life, but the results are always a bit… questionable… And so I was wondering if a bit of magic might not be able to do the trick…”

His voice trail off slightly as Yixing’s features draw into a thoughtful frown. The smaller male jots down a few symbols which Yifan can’t decipher, but Yixing’s mouth moves slightly as he writes them, as if he were pronouncing them soundlessly.

“I’m sorry, that’s a childish and stupid request I guess.” Yifan adds, laughing self-deprecatingly, about to reconsider his original plans and getting a rune for something else. Always being able to fall asleep immediately or something like that. He heard Jongdae gush about how relaxed he was feeling since getting that rune all the time.

But before the words can get out, Yixing is already looking up from his notes, one hand extended towards Yifan as if to grab his arm in reassurance. “No, it’s okay!” He exclaims, taking Yifan a little aback with how imploring he sounds.

Yixing’s features smooth out into the charming smile again, and he continues with a softer tone. “No, your request is… unusual, but I like a good challenge.” The red-haired male explains, and after his lips move into the hint of a teasing smirk he adds, “And I think it’s cute you still want to get your mother a self-made present, at your age.”

“You don’t even know my age.” Yifan  huffs in irritation, though honestly, no matter what age Yixing is guessing him to be, he obviously is a full-grown adult, so Yixing’s argument is valid uncaring of his exact age.

But Yixing just smiles at him lopsidedly, and this time really pats Yifan’s hand in a calming gesture of reconciliation. “No need to feel offended. As I said, I think it’s cute.”

The words immediately silence Yifan as the elder feels like swallowing his tongue at the words that almost sound like a compliment. He still avoids Yixing’s gaze defiantly, earning a low chuckle.

“And you’re right, I don’t know your age, but we still have to change that before we can properly get started.”

Yifan sees Yixing lean back from the corner of his eye, and lifts his gaze, curious as to what the shorter male is doing. He watches the tattooist rummage through a few stacks of paper piled in a not so neat order on a small cupboard to the side, before reemerging with a triumphant huff.

“There you go. Before I can go to design your rune I need you to fill that out.” Yixing declares, pushing what turns out to be a registration form together with a pen into Yifan’s direction. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

Without waiting for Yifan to react, the smaller gets up with a small nod of his head, disappearing through a doorway a few paces away leading even deeper into the building.

A bit startled by the other’s sudden departure, Yifan looks to the form placed in front of him, furrowing his eyebrows slightly at the plethora of questions, ranging from his date of birth to whether he was more of a day or night person. The longer he spends at the tattoo parlour, the more the feeling of his character being tested intensifies.

Right when he’s filling out the last field, Yixing returns, a few additional lines scribbled on the paper he had taken with him. Upon seeing that Yifan has completed the form, he doesn’t even take the time to sit down after being handed the form by Yifan.

Instead he flashes the taller another one of his dimpled smiles, cradling the documents he’s carrying close to his chest. “Okay, then give me a moment to design a fitting rune for you. I shouldn’t take much longer than twenty minutes or so.”

This time the tattooist waits for Yifan to nod in understanding, and smile back at him, before turning around and disappearing back into the direction he just came from. Yifan cranes his neck to look after him.

The room the red-haired enters is shielded by a flimsy, see-through curtain. Behind it Yifan sees walls lined with bookshelves, which are filled to the brim with books as far as Yifan can tell. He’s pretty sure he can see desks lining the far end of the room, giving it very much the feeling of a library. Yixing quickly vanishes behind the bookshelves, and as soon as he’s out of Yifan’s sight the taller resigns himself to waiting.

To his left there is a stack of magazines, similarly to the ones lying outside in the waiting area of the reception. Reasoning that he might as well spend his time reading instead of just watching the other tattooists work, Yifan pulls out a random magazine to flop open at a random page.

He ends up with a report of how the commercial sale of truth serum is in debate to be declared illegal, because it causes too many social ruptures. The following pages are filled with a thorough report on each zodiac’s power food and drink in the month to come, but Yifan just rolls his eyes as he lets out an involuntary huff of disdain.

“You don’t want to know what you need to eat to ‘shine during the day and the night’? Huh, what a powerful headline.” Yixing’s unexpected voice from behind him startles Yifan enough to have him jump in his seat as he quickly snaps the magazine shut in shock.

It earns him a soft laugh, and Yifan truly wishes he would get his jumpiness under control to not embarrass himself any further. It isn’t as if he even would have had to close the page he was reading that rapidly, it is perfectly normal to check in on the nutritious advices for one’s zodiac. There just had been something in the tone with which the tattooist had asked the question that made Yifan feel as if he was reading something suggestive.

“No, I don’t particularly pay attention to these things.” Yifan tries to excuse himself as Yixing settles back down on the chair he had vacated, looking weirdly pleased with himself. The taller just hopes that it’s because the tattooist has come up with awesome designs, and not because he watched Yifan make an idiot out of himself.

Instead of answering, the smaller just arches an eyebrow up, looking at Yifan as if he’s not quite believing the taller’s words, but in the end Yixing lets the matter slide. Instead he pushes a sheet containing four different rune designs towards Yifan.

“Okay, so these would be my suggestions. Going by all your prerequisites and wishes, I’d say the best placement for these would either be your nape-“ he gestures to a schematic drawing of a body on a second sheet, “your upper arm-“, he points his pen at a part of the arm close to the shoulder, “or your wrist.” After he has tipped his pen against the sketched wrist, he turns expectant eyes to Yifan.

The taller studies the layout of the upper body in front of him for a total of three seconds, before pointing at the second spot Yixing marked, the upper arm.

The smaller hums in understanding and crosses out two of the four rune designs. In response to Yifan’s questioning glance he chuckles. “These aren’t really suitable for the upper arm. Feasible, but I couldn’t guarantee if they would have the desired effect.”

All Yifan can do is nod as if he agrees with Yixing, when in all honesty he doesn’t have any idea what the other is talking about. The blond doesn’t really know a lot about magic and how it works, perhaps even less than the average citizen does.

The remaining two designs don’t look very alike. One reminds Yifan of a stylized eye, a line striking through it, while the other looks strangely—for the lack of a better description Yifan would call it a surprised tree. It consists of two parallel lines, one dot left to the two lines, one to the right and a third one right between them. A third, shorter straight line crosses the right one of the parallel lines at an angle that makes it look like a nose.

The decision is easy, but Yifan still looks up at Yixing doubtfully. “And these two do have the same effect? They don’t really look similar.”

“Oh yes, they both work pretty much the same. I mean, you have to be aware that none of these will turn you into Claude Monet or something.” The smaller looks serious for a change, as if he’s trying to caution Yifan. “These are manual runes. They will help unblock your creativity a little, and enhance the communication between your brain and your fingers, enabling you to use them a bit more… delicately, I’d say. But only to a certain degree. There’s only so much power runes have. Or the ones we do here, at least.”

The speech sounds very much as if Yixing is reading the stores guidelines and disclaimers to him, but Yifan simply nods either way. He hasn’t expected much more, so he simply taps the design that looks like an eye. “Then I’d like that one.”

The serious expression leaves Yixing’s features as quickly as it came, being replaced by a wide grin instead. “Excellent choice, I would have taken the same.”

Smiling back tentatively, Yifan follows Yixing when the tattooist leads him from the little sitting area to one of the booths. It’s hung with all sorts of sketches and drawings, not only of runes but also of colourful sceneries or mystique creatures, and Yifan finds himself marveling at the intricate work.

“Did you make all these?” He asks, admiration colouring his voice.

It catches him a bit off-guard that when he turns around it’s Yixing looking flustered for a change. Yifan decides he likes the sight of the smaller’s shy smile, Yixing ruffling the hair at his nape as he laughs softly. “Yeah, they are one part my hobby, one part potential designs for tattoo’s. I mean, I don’t want to _only_ do runes for the rest of my life, so I try to make sure I get enough practice.”

“They really look awesome.” Yifan compliments, taking delight in the way Yixing’s cheek turn the slightest bit red.

“Thanks.” The smaller takes a look at his own drawings, and Yifan sees a hint of fondness in his eyes. Then the red-haired male shakes himself out of it, the thoughtful smile stretching back into the friendly one Yifan has already become slightly used to.

“I still have to fetch a few supplies. You can already sit down, I’ll be right back.” Yixing says, motioning for Yifan to take a seat on what looks like some sort of stretcher, before taking off towards the other end of the room where a row of large cupboards is located.

Yifan follows through on the suggestion, his gaze locked on the back of the smaller male as he watches him open various drawers, picking out small jars.

The taller male’s so lost in thoughts, that he doesn’t notice how another tattooist approaches Yixing’s corner, leaning his elbows on the small shelf that’s segregating the working space from the rest of the room.

“You're not good enough for him.” A smooth, male voice says, and it takes Yifan a few seconds to realize that he’s the one being spoken to.

Startled he turns, disbelief the most forefront emotion on his face. “Excuse me?” He asks, a hint of offense tinting his voice.

The other male looks young, probably a few years younger than Yifan, with big eyes and hair a soft honey colour. “I said you're not good enough. Don’t even think of going after him.”

Yifan splutters in indignation, offense very quickly replacing the remains of disbelief entirely. “How do you want to know that, you don’t know me.” Then, after realizing what he just said, he adds a quick, “And who said I wanted to ‘go after him’ at all.”

The honey-haired male throws him a look that seems to say “Are you fucking kidding me?” but he only says: “Just giving you a fair warning. Remember, I’ll be watching you.”

In addition to his words the smaller makes the telltale gesture of pointing to his own narrowed eyes and then at Yifan. The other looks delicate, but there still is an involuntary shiver running down Yifan’s spine, as if he’s sensing danger from the smaller male. Unwilling to back down, Yifan returns the glare though.

“Oh Luhan, stop trying to scare away my customers.” Yixing’s voice breaks through their stare-off, as Yixing pats the other—Luhan, apparently—on the back as he passes by him on his way back to Yifan.

“Just looking out for you.” Luhan replies, and with a last meaningful glance at Yifan, he retreats from his perch atop the light brown wood to wander off to a booth close by.

“What was that about?” Yifan asks, still slightly baffled. The question is directed at himself rather than at Yixing, who is working at setting up all the trays he collected on a small table beside Yifan’s seat.

“Oh, please don’t mind Luhan too much, he has a bad case of protective-big-brother syndrome. Completely unwarranted protective-big-brother syndrome, I must add, I can take very good care of myself.” Yixing explains, saying the last few lines a bit louder as he pokes his tongue out into Luhan’s direction. Yifan is reasonably sure he just sees the other grin back from the distance.

“He’s your brother?” The taller asks curiously, then halts to dart gazes between the honey-haired male and Yixing. “Wait, he’s _older_ than you?”

“I know, so hard to believe right?” Yixing agrees, laughing at Yifan’s astonished expression. “But even though he doesn’t look like it, he’s a 90er Aries, and since I’m a 91er Libra, that makes him the older one.”

“Then he’s even older than _me._ ” Yifan notes, his voice almost skipping a few octaves in disbelief as he stares at the baby-faced male with wide eyes.

Another amused laugh resounds from the tattooist. “Well, that’s the sort of reaction most people have. But you’re older than me, if that’s any consolation.”

Yifan looks back to where Yixing is preparing the tattoo equipment, and opens his mouth as if to say something, but before any noise comes out, he’s silenced by the smaller male narrowing his eyes slightly at him.

“Before you say ‘I was expecting as much’ remember that I’m the one holding the needle.” As if in a silent threat, Yixing lifts the tattoo machine, a grin on his lips.

The taller gulps a little. He’s not quite sure yet of whether he should be afraid of Yixing or not. Even when Yixing laughs at his slightly scared looking expression Yifan remains cautious. “And no, he’s not actually my brother by blood. More like by mind, if you get what I mean.”

Yifan hums in understanding, and sees Luhan flash Yixing a grin and a thumbs-up from across the room, which the red-haired male returns with an equally pleased looking grin. It has Yifan wonder slightly how the other—older—male could have heard what Yixing said all the way from across the room, but he decides not to dwell on the thought for too long.

Instead he watches as Yixing takes out the rune design, and a couple of pens.

“I’ll go and sketch the rune directly onto your arm, okay? That way I can fit it in way better.” The tattooist explains, pen already uncapped and poised to start drawing.

As soon as Yifan nods his consent, Yixing moves his left, unoccupied hand forward. The blond is convinced the smaller is going to brush it along his skin, but Yixing stops just a few centimeters short of actually touching him. Instead the younger lets his fingertips ghost along invisible lines on Yifan’s upper arm, as if he’s mentally mapping out the appendage. Perhaps he is, Yifan can’t know with his basically non-existent knowledge of runes.

With the way Yixing is leaning close to study his arm, Yifan has a perfect view of the younger’s collarbones peeking out from beneath the drooping cleavage of his shirt. The black lines of a rune stand out against the paleness of the other’s skin. Three dots in a row, above a curved line that starts at about the height of the rightmost dot and curls down until it ends in another short line crossing it at a sharp angle, making it look a bit like the way children draw round cheeks or the creases of an elder’s mouth.

Yifan wants to ask Yixing what the rune is for, but the smaller wears a look of concentration on his face, so he doesn’t dare interrupt him in his work.

He does jump a little though when gentle fingertips do eventually touch his skin, the contact so unexpected that his head whips around to watch where the sensation came from.

The tattooist smiles apologetically, before starting to copy the rune from the sketch onto Yifan’s arm, making a few small adjustments so that the shape fits the curve of Yifan’s arm better. As soon as the younger seems satisfied with the outline, he exchanges the pen for his tattoo machine.

The low humming noise indicating that the machine is running makes Yifan feel a bit queasy. He’s never been tattooed before. He heard that a rune tattooed by a skilled artist—and Yixing certainly looks skilled—doesn’t hurt half as much as a normal tattoo would. Yifan can’t help himself though.

He just hopes Yixing doesn’t notice how he tenses when the other moves closer to ink the first line. The small smile on the tattooist’s lips looks amused, but then again Yixing seems to be continuously amused by Yifan. The expected pain doesn’t come however, just a very faint stinging sensation that immediately fades when Yixing swipes his hand over the freshly inked line.

His eyes widening slightly in surprise, Yifan can’t control the soft sigh escaping him as his body relaxes, and the smirk on Yixing’s face is decidedly knowing now.

“I know my handiwork, Yifan.” The younger almost snickers, and Yifan doesn’t know what to reply, so he just mumbles something that sounds like a cross between a denial of ever having been afraid of pain and an apology for doubting the younger’s abilities.

Apparently deciding that he has teased Yifan enough, the red-haired male starts up a round of casual small talk instead, distracting the taller from the tattoo for good.

Yixing asks about his job, his family, what Yifan likes to do in his spare time, and who the friend is who had recommended him as a tattooist. When Yifan tells the younger Jongdae’s name, recognition flashes through brown eyes.

Yifan in turn gets the chance to ask Yixing for how long he’s been doing runes already, when and how he found out that he had the ability to do them and when he started to plan on branching out into also doing decorative tattoos in addition to functional ones.

At one point Yifan even managed to squeeze in the question after Yixing’s tattoo. The younger chuckles in reaction, gaze wandering momentarily down as if to take a look at the rune himself. “It’s a rune for remembrance.” He explains.

“Remembrance?” Yifan asks, and he wants to add “Why?” but he’s not sure if that wouldn’t be overstepping boundaries.

Yixing hears the unvoiced question nonetheless, and smiles up at Yifan. “Yeah, remembrance. I might tell you about the meaning behind it some other time.”

Something in the younger’s eyes tells Yifan that there might be a deeper meaning behind the rune resting so serenely on the smooth expanse of Yixing’s collarbone than just the wish to improve an artistic ability, or help with finding a lost item, but Yifan doesn’t press.

He rather focuses on the fact that Yixing spoke of “some other time.”

Before Yifan really realizes it, an hour has passed, and Yixing is drawing back to properly study his work. Swiping his fingers across it one last time, he nods once in satisfaction, before fetching a mirror to give Yifan the chance to look at the rune himself.

The black lines are red around the edges where his skin is still irritated, but the design looks neat against the curve of his upper arm. “Looks good.”

Yixing downright glows with contentment at the statement, and Yifan’s heart does that thing again—that skipping thing, and Yifan doesn’t like it.

With practiced ease Yixing wraps the fresh tattoo up, telling Yifan how to take care of it and that it won’t start working until in about two to three days, when his body should have had enough time to get used to the foreign influence.

Yifan wants to look for a reason to stay a bit longer, but Yixing’s next customer is already waiting outside, so he really doesn’t have any choice but to thank the younger for his help, over and over again, until Yixing almost shoos Yifan out of the tattoo parlour’s main area. But the younger is laughing, a hint of red on his cheeks and Yifan only realizes as soon as he’s paid with a hefty tip and left the store with a wide smile on his lips that he forgot to ask Yixing for his number. Or to give his own number to the younger.

For a second he considers going back in, but he isn’t sure he would even be able to get a word out in embarrassment if he did.

So he resolves himself to the fact that it seems as if he would have to get another rune done after all.

It turns out that he doesn’t need to wrack his brain on what sort of rune to get next however, because even a week later he can’t see his rune having any effect.

So barely nine days later, Yifan is back at the tattoo parlour, sitting beside Yixing at the big table again in the last corner of the parlour’s main area.

“So the rune’s not working?” the younger asks, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“Yeah, it’s not! Wasn’t it supposed to make my art look good?” There’s a hint of irritation in Yifan’s voice, but Yixing doesn’t look as if it offends him.

The younger rather looks concerned. “Would you care to demonstrate your drawing? I mean, I told you, you wouldn’t turn into Monet just because of it.”

“Yeah, I know that. But sure, give me a pen and a piece of paper and I’ll show you. “ Yifan demands, feeling slightly insulted that the other would doubt his abilities to judge his own drawing.

When the empty sheet is placed in front of him Yifan hovers over it for a moment, debating on what to draw. He settles for the first thing that comes to his mind.

His hand quickly glides across the paper, leaving dark lines in its wake as he sketches out what’s supposed to be a koala. As soon as he’s done, he pushes the drawing towards the tattooist, looking at him challengingly.

Yixing studies the result with furrowed eyebrows, eyes darting from the butchered drawing to Yifan’s tattoo and back.

“Weird.” He mumbles to himself, and runs his fingers over the inked lines in Yifan’s skin. Deep in contemplation he traces the little black motive, as if to reassure himself that everything is there. Or perhaps it’s just a habit to help him think.

Uncaring of his reason, his fingertips leave Yifan’s skin tingling in their wake, and the blond desperately wants to blame it on the smaller’s affinity for handling magic and infusing it into people’s skin, but he knows that’s not the reason.

It wouldn’t explain his dry throat and the fast thumping of his heart either way.

“I’m afraid there is nothing wrong with the rune.” Yixing claims, features still bunched up in a frown. He doesn’t look as if he knows the reason for the rune’s malfunctioning, and he does look as if it annoys him to not know it. His eyes lift to meet Yifan’s as his fingers stop their examination. A part of Yifan wants to protest when the tattooist pulls his hand back, but the sensible part of his brain stops him before any embarrassing words can escape.

He had resolved himself to be upset. Yixing is said to be among the best in terms of spell runes, and this rune wasn’t cheap. And it’s not working. To be upset is his good right, Yifan told himself before coming to the tattoo parlour, but under Yixing’s genuinely concerned, scrutinizing gaze, all of Yifan’s indignation melts away, like an ice cube placed on blazing hot asphalt in the summer.

“But it’s not working.” He weakly protests instead, because he feels like he has to say something. It’s kind of embarrassing how his words come out thin, more like a complaining whine rather than a confident protest.

“I can see that.” Yixing notes, a small snort escaping him when his eyes wander to the sheet of paper with the exemplary drawing.

Yifan feels offended. “Hey, my drawing isn’t that bad.” He exclaims defensively, wanting to take his koala out of Yixing’s sight to shield it from being ridiculed.

The red-haired male shifts a disbelieving gaze to him, before raising one eyebrow in the mocking facsimile of a questioning expression. “So you’re saying there’s nothing wrong with the rune after all? That it’s completely functional?”

Yixing is testing him, and Yifan knows it. His ego screams at him to make some snarky, witty comeback, but he can only admit through gritted teeth that no, this is not the desired result.

The tattooist studies him, as if he’s expecting Yifan to go on, but before the other can think of more words to say—all of them very likely to embarrass him further—Yixing’s mouth stretches into a self-satisfied smirk.

“Thought so.” He notes, and immediately his expression shifts from one of smug victory into a comforting, helpful smile. Yifan thinks he might end up with whiplash from how versatile the smaller’s face seems to be.

“Okay, then let’s try to find the root of the problem.” Rising from his chair, Yixing dusts off imaginary dirt from his pants. “I’ll just go get your documents and a good reference book, then we can get into troubleshooting.”

With a last reassuring smile at Yifan the other male turns and disappears behind the curtains separating the customer area from the library area of the tattoo parlour.

The second he’s gone, Yifan exhales deeply, as if he’d been holding his breath. He can’t remember doing that, but then again he also can’t convincingly deny that his breathing might have been a bit shallow. Yixing just makes him nervous, with his dimpled smiles and mischievous grins, his soft voice and his unexpected touches.

Yifan can hear the rustling paper from behind the curtain, and Yixing speaking in a hushed voice with what has to be a colleague of his. Most likely asking where he left the blond’s documents, or that reference book he was talking about.

A few moments later the tattooist is back, three books, and a small stack of papers under his arms which he readily spreads across the table when he sits back down beside Yifan.

From then on Yixing second-checks the rune with his books, and goes over various possibilities as for why the rune could be malfunctioning. He has Yifan do various small tasks, like balancing the pen on a single finger, or flipping a coin. The actions don’t really make any sense to Yifan himself, but Yixing seems to be able to draw some insight from their outcome. And that result doesn’t seem to please the younger, as by the end of all these tests none of his theories fit. He still ends up drawing a blank.

Dragging a hand through his hair, Yixing ruffles up his red locks slightly in what looks like irritation. “Okay, this beats me. There shouldn’t be any interference with any other potential runes, even if there should be some you haven’t told me about. I checked for all runes that might influence the effectiveness of your drawing rune in any way.”

With a weary sigh he sinks down on the book, face first. The position reminds Yifan of his college days, when he was trying to learn all his course material in time for an exam, and was failing spectacularly at it, thinking that only a miracle would make him pass. The blond feels the urge to apologize to Yixing for causing him these troubles, and telling him that he will be okay with how the rune works—or not works, really.

Just as he’s about to open his mouth the smaller turns to face him, head still resting on the book. He wears an expression of defeat. “And you’re sure you’re a Virgo?” He asks with a hint of desperate laughter in his voice, as if he’s thinking his question is ridiculous, but he can’t help asking because it’s his last straw. Lifting himself from the pages, he tugs out Yifan’s registration sheet from beneath all the documents it had gotten buried under.

“Yes, of course you are. 17th of September, a definite Virgo.” The smaller mumbles, to himself rather than to Yifan.

Immersed in studying the form he doesn’t notice how Yifan has gone completely rigid in his chair. The mention of his zodiac hits him like an electric shock.

Gulping, Yifan fights hard against the urge to start fidgeting with his hands. “How is my zodiac playing into this? Is it important?” He asks warily, hoping to be as inconspicuous as possible, while at the same time desperately wishing for a negative answer.

But Yixing just hums in affirmation, eyes still glued to the letters in front of him. “The zodiac is very important when it comes to my profession. It determines the flow of your energy, as you probably know. Thus I have to take it into account when choosing the exact rune and possible placements for it.” He answers absent-mindedly, as if he’s reciting something he’s been told over and over again while still being deep in contemplation.

“Oh.” Yifan says meekly. Suddenly everything makes sense, and Yifan wishes, _desperately_ wishes it didn’t.  He also wishes the earth would be kind enough to open up and swallow him before he has to confess his little lie. Or that he could travel back in time to correct his mistake. He’s not too choosy about these options, he’s fine with whatever is more feasible.

Something about the tone of his voice must have caught Yixing’s attention, because the younger finally tears his eyes away from his reading material, to fix his gaze on Yifan instead. One eyebrow rises, making him look a cross between suspecting and questioning.

“Oh?” The smaller prompts, and Yifan is unable to hold that scrutinizing gaze.

Averting his eyes, he gives in to the urge of fidgeting with his hands as he fumbles for an answer that doesn’t destroy all his potential chances with Yixing, may they be ever so small. He can’t come up with any though, so he reasons it’s the best to be honest. Better late than never, right?

“I might not have been completely honest about my date of birth…?” his voice trails off at the end, and the sentence comes out more like a question than a statement.

“Are you trying to tell me you’re not a Virgo?” Yixing looks as if he’s torn between crying, shouting and laughing. He settles on the last when Yifan nods contritely, bursting out in a bout of disbelieving laughter, so loud that Luhan’s voice from behind the curtain asks if he’s okay with a shout. Between gasping for breath and holding his stomach, Yixing calls back that everything’s fine, no need to worry.

Yifan doesn’t know if he can share that sentiment though. It is about time for the earth to fulfill him his wish of being swallowed right then and there. He and Yixing spent the better part of one and a half hour looking for the potential source of Yifan’s rune’s malfunctioning, and it turned out to be because the tattooist had been working with the wrong premise right from the beginning.

So the blond thinks he’s entirely justified in fearing that Yixing might be angry or mad at him for wasting his time, but to his surprise the younger just laughs it off, and he sounds genuinely amused, not the edge of desperation in the sound Yifan expected to find there.

“Okay, then if you’re not a Virgo, what are you? What’s your real birthday?” He eventually asks, as soon as he manages to calm his laugh down enough to turn it into small giggles.

“… Scorpio. 6th of November, year is the same.” Yifan answers, still avoiding looking directly at Yixing. Instead he’s facing slightly down, catching how Yixing quickly scratches his fake date of birth on the paper, replacing it with the correct one instead.

“Ahh, a Scorpio. That makes a lot more sense.” The younger notes, and Yifan isn’t exactly sure if he’s referring to the tattoo or to Yifan’s personality in general. He hopes it’s the former. There are reasons why he tends to say he’s a Virgo.

The tattooist tells him to wait a moment while he sketches a correction for the rune, before taking all the books and documents with him and retreating to the library area.

It leaves Yifan to wonder whether the other really isn’t mad at him, or only acting like it because he doesn’t want to upset Yifan. Which would be stupid, after all Yifan was the one who was being stupid by lying about his date of birth. And honestly, even in his ignorance of magic, he should have known better. That the zodiac is the main influence to the flow of energy in one’s body is one of the first things children are taught during school, and it only figures that runes have to be adapted accordingly.

Yifan is drawn from his wallowing in self pity as Yixing taps him on the shoulder gently to gain his attention. In his hands he holds a sketch that shows a modification of the rune Yifan is currently carrying on his arm. It’s slightly bigger, and a lot more angular, most of the round corners having been turned into edges, but Yifan likes the design.

So after he nods it off, Yixing sets to work in pretty much the same way he had done when he had initially inked the rune into Yifan’s skin, just that this time his pen is gliding over already existent lines.

As soon as he starts up the tattooing machine, Yixing gets back into his conversational mood, as if all the hard work had already been done for him.

“So, why did you lie about your date of birth? You didn’t even change the year, just your zodiac.”, the younger inquires, sounding as if he’s genuinely curious. He pulls slightly back to be able to look at Yifan properly.

The taller feels the overwhelming urge to fidget in his seat again, because the reason is stupid, and he doesn’t want to have to voice it, but he already caused Yixing so much more work, the other at least deserves to be told the truth.

“Well, I’ve come to realize that Scorpios are usually attributed with a lot of negative traits.” Yifan eventuallymumbles, unable to face Yixing. “They are seen as too rash, not mild mannered enough, wanting to always be in control, and stuff…”

“Oh really?” The younger asks, and Yifan feels the telltale sting of Yixing drawing a line on his arm. “All I know is that Scorpios are really good in bed. Well, I don’t have any first-hand experience, but supposedly.”

Since Yixing’s tone is completely casual, as if he is talking about the weather, not even lifting his gaze from where he’s working on Yifan’s arm, it takes a moment for the words to register with Yifan. But when they do the taller chokes on his own saliva, subsequently breaking into a coughing fit.

Despite looking as if he’s entirely innocent, Yixing must have seen Yifan’s reaction coming because his needle isn’t on Yifan’s skin when the elder curls up on himself slightly while trying to get the coughing back under control.

The red-haired male just pats him on the back sympathetically, chuckling lightly, but also offering Yifan a glass of water which he gladly takes. As soon as he is able to breathe properly again, Yifan tries to look for an appropriate response that might save some of his dignity, but all he manages is a stutter of “I-I…I don’t-I-“ and if he’s being honest, he doesn’t properly know how to respond either way, so he breaks the sentence off before more garbled words can escape him.

But Yixing just laughs at him, and tells him to be a bit more careful with breathing and swallowing at the same time, before turning back to work on Yifan’s arm as if nothing happened.

Yifan stays silent, because he honestly is starting to have difficulties figuring the smaller male out. A hopeful part of his brain suggests that that casual comment of Yixing’s definitely was an attempt at flirting, while a much bigger part squashes the first one down, saying the smaller was just oblivious to the implications of his words.

Leaving Yifan to his own internal battle, Yixing finishes the rest of the corrective rune in comparative silence, only broken by the tattooist humming along silently to the soft music wafting from the speakers around them.

“Okay, I’m done.” He eventually exclaims, drawing back from Yifan and placing the tattoo machine down.

Startled from his musings, Yifan twists his head to try and take a look at the new design that is hopefully going to take effect under his skin soon. The position must look uncomfortable, with his head turned and his arm twisted slightly, since Yixing chuckles, touching his hand gently to gain his attention.

“Here, let me help.” The younger offers, and with a lopsided grin pulls the mirror out, just like he did the last time.

And just like the last time Yifan can’t help but marvel at the aesthetic of something that’s actually meant to be mainly functional.

“This time it should be working correctly.” The younger declares, the hint of a teasing smirk on his lips and Yifan can already feel the flush of embarrassment creeping up his neck.

“I’m sure it does.” He concedes, and then on second thought adds. “And once again, I’m sorry for the difficulties.”

“It’s okay, it’s all fixed up now.” Yixing just waves his concern away. “But what do you think about meeting me on Thursday? We can go have coffee and I can assure myself of the functionality of the rune.”

Yifan’s first instinct is to shout yes, of course, but he only manages to gape at the other for a long second, before at least managing to close his mouth for a nod. “Yes.” He eventually says, the disbelief faintly audible in his voice. “Yes, I’d like that.”

“Great, then it’s a date.” The red-haired male easily declares, before ripping off a stray piece of paper to scribble a sequence of digits on it. “Here’s my phone number. We can sort out all the details with texts, because I won’t know how my schedule will be on Thursday until tomorrow, okay?”

Since Yifan still doesn’t entirely trust his vocal chords he just nods his understanding and agreement again. It seems to be enough of an answer for Yixing, because the smaller flashes him a bright, dimpled smile, before getting up to bring the jars back into their respective places in the cupboard on the other end of the room, telling Yifan to wait for a moment and then Yixing will be back to wrap his tattoo up.

Only as soon as the younger male is gone the whole situation seems to click with Yifan. Yixing just asked him out on a date. And he agreed. In the most awkward way possible.

Honestly, Yifan might have never considered himself the epitome of coolness, but he always had been under the impression that there is at least some sort of smoothness in him. Well, apparently around Yixing there is nothing left of that.

“You know, the part where he said he didn’t have any first-hand experience? If you would have wanted to be smooth, that would have been the part where you should have said ‘Then now’s your chance to gain some’. But I guess choking on your own spit had its own, unique charm.” A bright voice pipes up mockingly from beside him, and Yifan doesn’t even need to look up to know who it is.

“Oh shut up, Luhan.” Yifan groans, because he really doesn’t need to be reminded. If Luhan’s chuckle is any indication the other takes delight in his misery.

“I mean, shouldn’t you rather be threatening me into not going on a date with Yixing?” Yifan notes, looking up at the elder questioningly.

Instead of agreeing Luhan just shrugs. “He’s been talking about you nonstop since last week, and I hope a date with you will shut him up once and for all.”

The flush Yifan had only just managed to fight back down immediately reclaims his cheeks at hearing Luhan’s words.

“He’s been talking about me?” Yifan asks, disbelieving and grinning stupidly at the same time.

Luhan just musters him with a calculating gaze, then shakes his head slightly. “You’re both hopeless.” He judges, and turns away to walk back to his own working space.

Yifan distantly hears him yell “But don’t forget, I’m still watching you.” but honestly, neither the rudeness of Luhan leaving in the middle of their conversation nor his threat have the slightest chance at dampening the blond’s mood now.

When Yixing comes back he seems momentarily startled by the wide grin Yifan flashes at him, but even though he tilts his head slightly in question, he returns it with a smile of his own.

When Yifan leaves the store that afternoon, he feels as if he’s flying, and he’s pretty sure there’s a slight skip to his steps, but he frankly doesn’t care.

In his coat pocket, the paper with Yixing’s number is rubbing against the scrap that has “1:30 – Lay” scribbled on it.


End file.
